light primer strikes

[beeb173]

getting light primer strikes on certain ammo brands but not others. the primers seem to be "struck well".

1) is there a difference in major manufacturers primers?

2)is there a way to tell if a pistol is striking hard/deep enough?

3)am i over thinking it and should i just send the gun back to the manufacturer?

 

[ugaarguy]

You're going to have to give us more details. What's the make, model, and caliber of the pistol? What brands and lines of ammo giving you problems? What brands and lines of ammo aren't giving you problems?

 

[Schwing]

Some of the Russian made ammo such as Wolf or Tula tend to have slightly thicker primer walls but, if your gun has not been modified (lighter springs etc) I would contact the manufacturer.

Out of the box, I would expect any handgun to have no issues with any of the brands of ammo sold over the counter. If you have had any work done to lighten the trigger pull etc, that can cause light trigger strikes as well and would have to be discussed with the person that did the work for you.

 

[beeb173]

It's a kel tec pf9. (I know) but it's been back to the factory and it fires hornady and civil defense but has problems w/ target fmjs like umc and American eagle. never had trigger work done. Just fixed an extraction issue. Are the primers different in high end ammo?

 

[gamestalker]

From what is sounds like, and being that you've already had it back to the manufacturer for repair, I would say you have a firearm problem. Every now and then a factory round will mis-fire, but anything more than that and it's almost certainly a problem with the gun.

GS

 

[243winxb]

Firing pin velocity may be on the slow side from dirt or lack of lube. I would spray the gun with WD 40. (others will say no never) but it has fixed a few for me.

 

[beeb173]

I clean and lube that gun even if it hasn't been fired and just worn. The firing pin gets lubed from the front and back and worked back and fourth after every range trip. Is there something else I can do to get it cleaner?

 

[All_About_Guns]

I use a lubricant called break away. What i would try is taking it completely apart, and then use ether or something similar to take off every drop of oil. Clean it, lube it, and try again. Sometimes less is better when it comes to putting oil on your gun. Too much can sometimes cause problems.

 

[NOMI WASP]

I have a Taurus PT709 (very similar gun) that had light strikes out of the box. I played around with all kind of stuff and finally returned it to Taurus. I had it back with a new barrel within 2-3 weeks. No other issues. I wouldn't mess around with it, send it back on their nickel.

Frustrating I know. Good luck!

 

[beeb173]

Just watched a YouTube video on it and like the poster above said, I may have been over oiling the firing pin. I'll try dry lube (whatever that is). It's odd though that it was still firing the hornadys and only had trouble w/ target rounds.

 

[murf]

have you cleaned the firing pin channel lately? gunk between the spring coils can reduce pin travel.

murf

just saw your cleaning post. so, my cleaning of the channel includes using a qtip in the channel, spraying the spring w/wd40, and wiping off the pin.

other than different thicknesses of primers, i can't help solve this issue. good luck.

 

[beeb173]

Called kel tec. They recommend electrical degreaser to clean it and G96 to lube it.

 

[Onward Allusion]

beeb173 -

Yes. Different rounds. Different primer hardness.

However, if it is experiencing light primer strikes on a couple of different brands, then it could be the firing pin. If the cleaning doesn't fix it, then odds are that the mainspring got over-stretched when being taken apart at the factory.

In order for the firing control module to come out of the grip, the hammer spring catch at the bottom of the grip must be pried and shifted. If not done correctly or with care, the mainspring/hammer spring will stretch as the firing control module is removed.

You may need to send it back to the factory if you do not feel comfortable enough to swap the spring out yourself.

 

[J2FLAN]

http://stevespages.com/primermyths.html

The above is a interesting read, for those who wonder, if some primers are really harder than others.

 

[murf]

maybe this will help: http://www.jamescalhoon.com/primers_and_pressure.php

apparently, there are variations in thickness and hardness among primer manufacturers.

murf

 

[Rule3]

yes different primers have different "hardness" Thar said, your KT should fire any name brand ammo.

Firing pins/springs should not be lubricated, That makes them collect crud. The need to be cleaned out with a degreaser and kept that way, You can lightly lube the gun on the specified points.

If you do not want to send the gun back have them send you a repair kit. The screw on the side (aka Franken bolt) holds the extractor, firing pin and spring , remove it and flush out the firing pin channel. Replace with a new spring and firing pin.

Some KT/s require more than one trip back to the Mothership.

 

[rcmodel]

I would almost bet you have a weak hammer spring.

It is very easy to over-stretch and weaken them when putting the butt plug that retains the bottom end of the spring back in the grip.

That is much more likely then 'oiling the firing pin' causing misfires!

rc

 

[BlindJustice]

I had light primer strikes on a S&W 625. .45 ACP and .45 Auto
Rim Gunsmith opened it up and found the tip of the stock
FP broken. I had him install the Apex Tactical XP Ignition Kit
which contains a firing pin that is forged and the tip is slightly
longerr as well as having a convex ( roundy for more contact)
shape. Apex offers another one which i has a pointy tip for target
application - the XP kit is for carry guns oh, it also incoudes a
lightened rebound spring.

It's cured the light strikes.

Randall

 

[TarDevil]

Two years ago I started this thread about light strikes with my gun. Turns out I picked up a couple boxes of WWB ammo in Texas with WCC primers which were unusually hard. If you look at the pictures in the thread the stikes were sufficiently deep... but wouldn't ignite the rounds. I had no issues before or after those boxes of ammo.

It could be the ammo.

 

[BlindJustice]

I've heard Federal are softer than CCI

.45 ACP Revolver guys on the S&W forum reccomend Federal primers

Randall

 

[beeb173]

used the electrical degreaser and noticed that the firing pin doesn't seam to stick out enough when i push it out as far as it can go. like it's almost flush. i compared it to how far my glock's firing pin comes out and its not an exaggeration to say it comes out more than twice as far. time to call kel tec i guess.

 

[rcmodel]

You can't push it out.
It is an inertia firing pin and won't stick out pushing it.

It flys out when the hammer hits it, then the spring retracts it back in the slide when the hammer re-sets.

You have a weak hammer spring, and it isn't hitting it fast enough to achieve that result.

rc

 

[1SOW]

RCModel +1

Put a pencil in the barrel pointed straight up with the rubber eraser end down on the FP hole. Pull the trigger. The pencil should fly. If not, I'd put in a new main spring/hammer spring

I never lube pistol FPs. Make SURE the FP channel is completely free of soot/crud. I use spray can of non-chlorinated brake cleaner with the red spray tubes from the auto parts stores--$3

Where eye protection and hold it at arms length, spray both ends and it'll clean the channel nicely.

 

[mboylan]

Lube in the firing pin channel can slow down the firing pin. Keep it clean and dry, especially in striker fired pistols. Lube where it is not supposed to be can cause problems. That is probably your issue.

 

[dprice3844444]

if you can take it apart and clean it,then if you can find somebody with some sort of light/magnifier to look inside the channel for burrs/imperfections